Lando Norris Advances Closer to Championship as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Victory

The McLaren Lando Norris moved nearer to his first world title with runner-up position in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver now leads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by thirty points going into the second-to-last race in Qatar next weekend

Norris will win the championship in the Qatar as long as he doesn't surrender more than five points to Piastri in Losail, or 17 to Verstappen

Piastri, so strong in the first half of the season, has not finished on the podium for six races

"Max had a good race. I erred early on and was too punchy on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second place. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

Following Qatar, the final race of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on 7 December

The main developments of among Formula 1's most prestigious races included:

• Lando Norris maintained his momentum towards the title despite the win to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his title hopes wane

• A excellent win for Max Verstappen to maintain him in the title fight

• Fightbacks for both Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton claiming a single point for 10th following beginning at the back

From the beginning, Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not here to avoid risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his advantage from pole position from Max Verstappen

But following an forceful cut in front of the Red Bull driver to block the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver miscalculated his braking point and ran deep into the corner

This allowed Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris lost the runner-up spot to Russell

During two VSC periods for some early incidents, including at the start when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson collided with Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen slowly stamped his authority on the event

George Russell made an early tire change for the hard tyres, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

The McLaren driver pitted five circuits after the Mercedes and Verstappen ten laps later

Verstappen was able to rejoin still in the lead, George Russell having been failed to catch up on the Red Bull even with his newer rubber

Norris returned after George Russell from his stop but after a few cautious laps to allow his tires to warm up, quickly reduced his 3.3-second deficit to the Mercedes and overtook into runner-up position on lap 34

The British driver inquired his race engineer how to run the remainder of his event, essentially questioning whether he should accept second or challenge for the lead

He was instructed to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could defend against Norris' challenges, and in the final laps the margin extended significantly as the McLaren began to suffer a mechanical problem which has thus far not been defined

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Norris was could hold off Russell because of the extent of the advantage he had established while chasing Max Verstappen

The Verstappen's sixth win of the championship - just one behind both McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and keeps him in title contention, at least mathematically, even if he requires problems for Norris in both remaining races to pass him

"It's still a big gap, we always try to maximise all we've got," Verstappen said

"In upcoming weekends we will try to take victory in the race and at the end of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri began in fifth but lost two places on the first circuit following being clouted by Lawson, who was soon eliminated of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's team-mate Isack Hadjar for the opening fifteen circuits before passing him on the Strip but also position to Leclerc, who he was could repass during the tire change phase

The Australian ended up behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who ran almost the entire race on the durable compound after stopping during the initial VSC, but was awarded a five second penalty for a start-line violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a frustrating event from pretty much start to finish in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed race broadcasters

Questioned about how he would tackle the remaining events, he commented: "Just try to position myself in the best position I can. I clearly need several of factors to go my way at this stage to take the title, but all I can do is ensure I'm in the ideal situation to take advantage if something happens"

Leclerc hung on in sixth place, not close enough to benefit from Antonelli's time penalty, while Sainz dropped to seventh at the flag, his Williams car missing the speed to compete with the leading outfits in the dry conditions, following his heroic showing to start third in the wet weather

Hadjar secured eighth place ahead of Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time title winner executed a strong getaway, rising to thirteenth on the opening circuit and continued to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a bunch of additional vehicles but was could employ his electric start to salvage a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life